ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the basic essentials relating to the source and elements of radioactivity with the aim of indicating the possibility of providing proper protection from harmful radiation by effective shielding and containment or disposal of the radioactive sources. It makes ingress to discussions of what the sources of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and intermediate-level radioactive waste (ILW) are and of the various aspects of regulations and management and disposal requirements. Radiation hazards in relation to biotic receptors arise when these receptors are exposed to the emission of radioactive rays from unstable radioactive nuclides. Unstable nuclei are radioactive since they will decay and, in doing so, will emit radiation from the disintegrating nuclei. The energy associated with radioactive decay or the transmutation of atoms is generally large enough to qualify as ionizing radiation. The intensity of radioactivity is measured in terms of the rate of radiation emission of the radioactive particles or rays.
